Securable corner surveillance unit with dual windows

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a surveillance camera unit that is suited for secure placement in an upper corner of a room, abutting two walls and a ceiling, allowing the day or night surveillance of an entire room with a field of view that captures the scene of the entire floor and all four walls, under bright light conditions and under no-light. The upper corner placement is ideal for minimizing the risk of an observed person grabbing onto the unit or tying something to it, either for purposes of destroying himself, the unit, or the surveillance camera equipment within the unit. The unit is substantially a truncated tetrahedron, with each of the four corners truncated and sealed. A back angle of a few degrees greater than perpendicular of each of the rear walls with respect to each of the other walls of the unit allows it to be mounted snugly within a corner even where the angles of the walls of the room are not square angles. A pair of windows in the corner unit, with an opaque wall separating the windows, allows illumination through one window without flashback off the window reaching the camera, which is pointed through the other window.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to security and surveillance cameras. Inparticular it relates to structures and containers for such cameras, andtheir need to be securely affixed in an area under surveillance in sucha position as to capture the video information from the scene intendedto be watched.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR TECHNOLOGY

[0002] A variety of methods exist to render a surveillance camerasecure. One method is simply to suspend the camera out of reach ofpersons to be observed. Another method is to have the camera mountedwithin a protruding suspended transparent dome that is difficult to gripbecause it is curved and smooth. The surveillance camera canalternatively be mounted in another room behind a window in a wall ofthe room to be observed. The first method has the disadvantage that aperson may be able to jump or climb on another person or object andreach the camera. The second has the disadvantage that the protruding ofthe dome makes it a target. It not only draws attention to itself, butit can be struck with an object from many directions. The third methodhas the disadvantage that it wastes space; a separate room may have tobe dedicated to the operation of the camera.

[0003] A surveillance camera is typically placed at eye-level if thecamera is securely positioned behind a one-way mirror or in another roombehind a window. If it is placed in the room to be watched, it can beplaced high up. None of the prior technology shows a camera that issecurable in an upper corner of a room, providing the commanding fieldof view as disclosed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] This invention provides a surveillance camera unit that is suitedfor secure placement in an upper corner of a room, abutting two wallsand a ceiling, allowing the day or night surveillance of an entire roomwith a field of view that captures the scene of the entire floor and all4 walls, under bright light conditions and under no-light. The uppercorner placement is ideal for minimizing the risk of an observed persongrabbing onto the unit or tying something to it, either for purposes ofdamaging or destroying himself, the unit, or the surveillance cameraequipment within the unit. The design reduces the chances ofself-inflicted harm such as suicide by hanging from a ceiling mountcamera that has ledges and protruding parts to which a cord could befastened. The placement in a corner makes it difficult to swingsomething at it without striking one of the walls or the ceiling first.

[0005] The unit is substantially a truncated tetrahedron, with each ofthe four corners truncated and sealed. An angle on the unit of a fewdegrees greater than perpendicular for each of the wall and ceilinghugging surfaces of the unit with respect to each of the other walls orceiling hugging surfaces of the unit allows it to be mounted snuglywithin a corner even where the angles of the walls of the room are notsquare angles. The one-piece integral functionality of the unit makes ita fixture that allows a no-fuss, easy installation.

[0006] A pair of windows in the corner unit, with an opaque partitionseparating the windows, allows illumination through one window withoutflashback off the window reaching the camera, which is pointed throughthe other window.

[0007] The surveillance camera corner unit allows the camera to take inthe view of the entire room from the corner in which it is mounted. Thiscan be important is situations such as a prison cell or hospital room,where it is desired to view all activity within the room, including allfour walls and every square foot of floor. A wide angle lens on a closedcircuit camera within the unit completes a system for a room in whichthere is effectively no place to hide.

[0008] A ruggedized, no-grip housing for the unit prevents destructionby an irate prison convict or a deranged psychiatric patient. The camerais hidden and secure behind a translucent window.

[0009] A patient in the watched room would not be able to disrupt thecamera by knocking it out of focus or pulling it from its signal outputwires.

[0010] The illumination source is also hidden and secure behind a secondtranslucent window. The illumination can be visible light or infraredfor night camera imaging. In either case, the images will be far betterif there is no reflection of the illumination from the illuminationsource within the unit back into the camera. It is desired not to havethe illuminator merely illuminate the window of the unit and the cameramerely to see images of the illumined window. This problem is solved byhaving dual windows on separate camera and illuminator compartmentswithin the surveillance camera unit. The infrared illumination throughthe separate window of the unit in combination with the unobtrusiveplacement of the unit in an upper corner makes the unit very suitablefor covert surveillance in low visible light conditions, such asnight-time or in computer rooms.

[0011] The front face has a top edge and a left and a right bottom sideedges that will abut the ceiling and left and right walls of the room inwhich the unit is to be mounted. The left and right top side facets andthe bottom facet of the unit are formed along truncations of the topleft and right and the bottom extensions of the front face. This designeliminates unnecessary material that would be used if the extensionsextended to three pointed extensions of the front face, each of whichcould be a weak place on the unit because of the thinness of thematerial adjacent to each point that would otherwise result. The facetsare obtusely angled from the front face to preclude a grip on the facetand the front face.

[0012] The left, right, and top surfaces are angled at greater than 90degrees square. This ensures a snug, no-grip fit of the device towalls/ceilings that are less or greater than 90 degree square. Even aslight, typical deviation greater or less than 90 degrees between walls,or between ceiling and walls can cause a gap or opening with 90 degreebacked devices can be utilized to cause damage to the device itself oras an anchor-point to cause harm to the occupant of the room undersurveillance.

[0013] A preferred embodiment of the invention is thus a securablecorner surveillance unit comprising:

[0014] a) a housing adapted for snug mounting in an upper corner of aroom, the having a top surface for mounting against a ceiling and a leftback surface and a right back surface for mounting against a left andright wall respectively;

[0015] b) a front perimeter portion in the housing joining a top edge onthe top surface, a left edge on the left back surface, and a right edgeon the right back surface;

[0016] c) a front plate within the front perimeter portion, having atleast one surveillance window mounted in the front plate; and in which:

[0017] d) the top surface has an angle in the range of 91 to 95 degrees,or approximately 93 degrees, with respect to the back edge formed by themeeting of the left back surface and the right back surface;

[0018] e) the left back surface has an angle in the range of 91 to 95degrees, or approximately 93 degrees with respect to the right backsurface;

[0019] f) the front plate has a camera window and an illuminator window,the camera window being a transparent cover for a camera compartmentwithin the housing, the illuminator window being a transparent cover foran illuminator compartment within the housing, the camera compartmentand the illuminator compartment being separated such that light from theilluminator compartment reaches the camera compartment only through thecamera window by means of a light-tight partition between the cameracompartment and the illuminator compartment;

[0020] g) the front plate is detachably mounted flush with the frontperimeter portion;

[0021] h) the housing is substantially a truncated tetrahedron, havingleft and right top side facets and a bottom facet, formed respectivelyalong truncations of top left and right and bottom extensions of thefront face, the top left and right facets and the bottom facet beingobtusely angled from the front face to preclude gripping of any of thefacets and an adjacent portion of the front face;

[0022] i) a surveillance camera is mounted in a camera compartmentwithin the housing, the camera being fitted with a wide angle lens thatgives a field of vision of at least 90 degrees in the horizontal and inthe vertical planes.

[0023] j) an illuminator is mounted within an illuminator compartmentwithin the housing, the illuminator comprising a bank of infrared lightemitting diodes and heat-sink that emit infrared light at a frequencythat is beyond the range of human-eye perception.

[0024] l) the left back surface and the right back surface do not extendto meet at a back edge on the housing but instead meet at a lower rearfacet in order to leave a hollow between the housing and the edge formedby the walls of the room in which the housing could be mounted;

[0025] k) the top surface, the left back surface and the right backsurface do not extend straight to meet at an upper rear corner point onthe housing but instead meet along with the lower rear facet at a upperrear facet in order to leave a hollow between the housing and an areaimmediate adjacent to an upper corner of a room in which the housingcould be mounted;

[0026] m) in which at least one of the upper rear facet and the lowerrear facet has at least one aperture through which a power cord for theilluminator and a video output cord can be strung; and

[0027] l) the front plate is at an angle of substantially 45 degreeswith respect to the top surface of the housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]FIG. 1 is a front view of the surveillance camera corner unit ofthe present invention.

[0029]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the walls, occupant, and farcorner of a room through the surveillance camera of the corner unitinstalled in an upper corner of a room.

[0030]FIG. 3 is a top view of the surveillance camera corner unit of thepresent invention.

[0031]FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the unit, showing thepartition between the dual windows that compartmentalizes theilluminator from the surveillance camera.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Referring to FIG. 1, the surveillance camera unit 1 comprises ahousing 2 and a front face plate 3, secured with screws 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, and central screw 19. The screws can be security screws requiring aparticular pattern screwdriver to remove the screws, or they can beone-way screws that will accept a twisting force in their slots to screwthem on, but have a sloped slot that will not provide a grip forcounterclockwise twisting force by a screwdriver. Through theilluminator window 10 can be seen a bank of infrared light emittingdiodes (IR LED's) such as at 11, 12, 13. The camera window 14 allows thecamera lens 15 to view the scene from the corner in which the unit ismounted. The left facet 16 and the right facet 17 truncate the unit soit does not overly extend along the juncture of the ceiling and the leftand right walls respectively and provide a point that could be pried orgrasped.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 2, a wide angle lens covering more than 90degrees of view yields an image from the camera that shows the wall 21that the FIG. 22 perceives as being the wall on his right and to theright of the corner surveillance unit, and the other wall 23 that thefigure perceives as being the wall on his left, to the left of thecorner surveillance unit. The far corner 24 of the room where theopposite walls 25 and 26 meet is visible.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 3, the top surface 30 of the unit has anintermediate rear facet 31 that allows a hollow between the unit and acorner formed by the two walls and the ceiling into which the unit canto be mounted. Such corners are often especially irregular from theperpendicular ideal, due to off-angle walls and ceiling and due to theagglomeration of plaster in the corner. The illuminator power cord 32and the video output cord 33 protrude from an aperture 35 in theintermediate rear facet 31. The hollow allows working and slack spacefor the wires between the unit and the corner in which the unit will beinstalled, and enable the unit to be mounted without actually abuttingthe wall and ceiling at or immediately adjacent to the corner. This isimportant to achieve a snug fit, because there are often carpentry andplastering anomalies in a room's corner that are not even close to 90degrees. The angle at 34 is itself slightly greater than 90 degrees,which allows the left upper outer corner 36 and the right upper outercorner 37 to fit snugly against the left and right wall respectivelyeven if the walls meet at a slightly less than 90 degree angle. Theangle at 34 being 93 degrees when the unit is formed will allow the unitto be mounted snugly in most corners, surmounting typical plasteringeffect near the corner that is less than perpendicular. The rear facet62 also provides a hollow against the vertical inside edge formed by thewalls against which the unit can be installed, again to accommodateirregularities of carpentry and plastering along that edge.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 4, the housing 2 has top flange 45 and bottomflange 46 for securing the front plate 3 via screws 5, 19, and 9. Thewindow 10 allows the LEDs 11 and 13 to shine infrared illumination outthe window. The unit should use low-voltage, remote-controllable,low-energy LED infrared illumination to ensure sufficient non-visiblelighting for effective camera operation under no-light night-timeoperation and under emergency back-up-power conditions. A voltage andcurrent control board 81 controls the intensity of the LEDS 11 and 13while ensuring long life for the LEDs. A photocell 82 allows automaticon/off infrared operation. Lenses are changeable via detachment of thefront plate 3. Any reflected illumination from the LED's off of surface50 of window 9 is retained within the illuminator chamber 41 and doesnot flashback into the camera lens 15, which is mounted within chamber42 formed by partition 40, intermediate rear facet 31, rear facet 62,bottom facet 95, and bottom front perimeter portion 96. Any flashback isblocked by partition 40. The partition 40 also provides extra strengthfor the middle portion 74 of the front plate 3. The camera 48 is mountedto the front plate 3 by bolts 70 and 71, and sends its video signal outvia video cord 33 exiting through lower rear aperture 35. Likewise fedthrough the upper rear aperture 98 is the power cord 32 for theilluminator LEDs as at 11 and 13. The bank of LEDs together with theheat sink 47 are mounted to the front plate 3 with bolts 72 and 73. Theheat sink 47 dissipates the heat from the LEDs 11 and 13. Chamber 42 canbe large enough to accommodate a pan and tilt motor and bracket for thecamera for use with a zoom lens, but a single fixed focal length lenswill cover a typical room if the lens is sufficiently wide angle. Thetop surface 30 of the unit extends from the top front edge 77 to theintermediate back edge 61, where it meets intermediate rear facet 31, toaccommodate irregularities in the finish of the corner in which the unitcould be installed. It is particularly important to achieve a snug fitat the top front edge 77 against the ceiling in order to prevent a hand,cord, or tool from being placed above the top front edge in an attemptto pull the unit down. The bottom corner 78 will fit snugly against awall, because of the angle at 49 being greater than 90 degrees. Anexcellent angle at 49 would be 93 degrees, which would cover variationsin most walls and ceilings from perpendicular at a distance from theceiling and wall corner where the top

at 34 in FIG. 3, should be 93 degrees, to allow a snug fit of the upperouter corners 36 and 37 against respective left and right walls.

[0036] The housing 2 should be made of a strong material, lightweightmaterial such as aluminum, or ballistic-strength plastic sufficient tomeet the potential challenges of the location where the unit is intendedto be installed. It can be attached to the ceiling by screws throughupper screw holes 91 and 92 in the top surface 30 as shown in FIG. 3,and to the wall through side screw holes 93 and 94, as shown in FIG. 4.These screws would all be accessible only when the face plate 3 isdetached from the housing 2.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 4, the angle at 80 is 45 degrees. When the unitis constructed with a 45 degree tilt, the surveillance camera willprovide an excellent perspective of small rooms such as prison cells,hospital care rooms, suicide watch cells, sleep labs and elevators. Ifthe windows 10 and 14 are made from ¼ inch Lexan, they should besufficiently strong to not be broken in such environments.

[0038] The smooth housing 2 allows for tight installations without anyexposed wiring, making the unit very difficult to vandalize. Anextremely tight fit into wall and ceiling corners is provided by themain back angles of the unit being in the range of 91 to 95 degrees,preferably in the range of 92 to 94 degrees, or approximately 93degrees, to compensate for rooms that are not perfectly square adjacentto the corners. A hollow space immediately adjacent to the cornerprovided by intermediate rear facet 31 and rear facet 62 accommodateseven more severe anomalies from perfectly perpendicular corners right inand immediately adjacent to the corner where it is desired to snuglymount the corner surveillance unit.

[0039] Applications for this surveillance camera corner unit includeprisons, hospitals, warehouses, parking lots, schools, stores, andcorridors.

[0040] The unit can also accommodate a second or third camera forspecialty purposes, such as zoom or focus on a specific target withinthe room. Examples would be monitoring of the face or body language of ahospital patient, a sleep deprivation experiment subject, or a detaineeduring police interrogation.

[0041] The unit can also accommodate a directional, omni-directional, orspecific frequency range microphone to allow the recording of targetaudio information along with the video from the surveillance camera. Theupper corner placement of the microphone in the securable corner unitgives it an excellent vantage for omnidirectional or directional pick-upof the sounds in the room.

[0042] The within-described invention may be embodied in other specificforms and with additional options and accessories without departing fromthe spirit or essential characteristics thereof The presently disclosedembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalence of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:
 1. A securable corner surveillance unit comprising: a) ahousing adapted for snug mounting in an upper corner of a room, thehousing having a top surface for mounting against a ceiling and a leftback surface and a right back surface for mounting against a left andright wall respectively; b) a front perimeter portion in the housingjoining a top edge on the top surface, a left edge on the left backsurface, and a right edge on the right back surface; c) a front platewithin the front perimeter portion, the front plate having at least onesurveillance window mounted in the front plate; in which the top surfacehas an angle of slightly greater than 90 degrees with respect to a backedge formed by the meeting of the left back surface and the right backsurface, and the left back surface has an angle of slightly greater than90 degrees with respect to the right back surface.
 2. The securablecorner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which the top surface has anangle between 91 and 95 degrees with respect to the back edge formed bythe meeting of the left back surface and the right back surface.
 3. Thesecurable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which the left backsurface has an angle between 91 and 95 degrees with respect to the rightback surface.
 4. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, inwhich the top surface has an angle of 93 degrees with respect to theback edge formed by the meeting of the left back surface and the rightback surface.
 5. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, inwhich the left back surface has an angle of 93 degrees with respect tothe right back surface.
 6. The securable corner surveillance unit ofclaim 4, in which the left back surface has an angle 93 degrees withrespect to the right back surface.
 7. The securable corner surveillanceunit of claim 1, in which the front plate has a camera window and anilluminator window, the camera window being a transparent cover for acamera compartment within the housing, the illuminator window being atransparent cover for an illuminator compartment within the housing, thecamera compartment and the illuminator compartment being separated suchthan light from the illuminator compartment reaches the cameracompartment only through the camera window by means of a light-tightpartition between the camera compartment and the illuminatorcompartment.
 8. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, inwhich the front plate is detachable mounted flush with the frontperimeter portion of the housing.
 9. The securable corner surveillanceunit of claim 8, in which the front plate is detachable from the housingby unscrewing security screws that can be unscrewed only by means of aspecial tool.
 10. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, inwhich the housing is substantially a truncated tetrahedron, having leftand right top side facets, a bottom facet, and an intermediate rearfacet, formed respectively by sealed truncations of corners that wouldotherwise be formed by extension of top, left, right, and front surfacesof the unit.
 11. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, inwhich the top left and right facets and the bottom facet are obtuselyangled from the front face to preclude gripping of any of the facets andan adjacent portion of the front face.
 12. The securable cornersurveillance unit of claim 1, in which there is additionally a rearfacet formed by a sealed truncation of a rear edge that would otherwisebe formed by an extension of the left and right surfaces of the unit.13. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which at leastone surveillance camera is mounted in a camera compartment within thehousing.
 14. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 13, inwhich the camera is fitted with a wide angle lens that gives a field ofvision of at least 90 degrees in horizontal and in vertical planes. 15.The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which anilluminator is mounted within an illuminator compartment within thehousing.
 16. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 15, inwhich the illuminator comprises a bank of infrared light emittingdiodes.
 17. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 17, in whichat least one rear portion of the unit has an aperture through which apower cord for the illuminator and a video output cord can be strung.18. The securable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which thefront plate is at an angle between 40 and 50 degrees with respect to thetop surface of the housing.
 19. The securable corner surveillance unitof claim 1, in which the front plate is at an angle of substantially 45degrees with respect to the top surface of the housing.
 20. Thesecurable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which the housing ismade of strong light metal and the windows are made fromimpact-resistant transparent material other than glass.
 21. Thesecurable corner surveillance unit of claim 1, in which: a) the topsurface has an angle of 93 degrees with respect to the back edge formedby the meeting of the left back surface and the right back surface; b)the left back surface has an angle of 93 degrees with respect to theright back surface; c) the front plate has a camera window and anilluminator window, the camera window being a transparent cover for acamera compartment within the housing, the illuminator window being atransparent cover for an illuminator compartment within the housing, thecamera compartment and the illuminator compartment being separated suchthat light from the illuminator compartment reaches the cameracompartment only through the camera window by means of a light-tightpartition between the camera compartment and the illuminatorcompartment; d) the front plate is detachable mounted flush with thefront perimeter portion; e) the housing is substantially a truncatedtetrahedron, having left and right top side facets, a bottom facet, andan intermediate rear facet, formed respectively by sealed truncations ofcorners that would otherwise be formed by extension of top, left, right,and front surfaces of the unit, and in which there is additionally arear facet formed by a sealed truncation of a rear edge that wouldotherwise be formed by an extension of the left and right surfaces ofthe unit, the left and right top side facets and the bottom facet beingobtusely angled from the front face to preclude gripping of any of thefacets and an adjacent portion of the front face. f) at least onesurveillance camera is mounted in a camera compartment within thehousing, the camera being fitted with a wide angle lens that gives afield of vision of at least 90 degrees in horizontal and in verticalplanes. g) an illuminator is mounted within an illuminator compartmentwithin the housing, the illuminator comprising a bank of infrared lightemitting diodes and heat-sink h) the front plate is at an angle ofsubstantially 45 degrees with respect to the top surface of the housing.